eogrāfiski raksti folia geographica xii - Ģeogrāfijas un Zemes zinātņu ...

DEVELOPMENT OF PLACES AND REGIONS
(8) Major events in 2003
3 – There were more than three international events;
2 – There was at least one major international event;
1 – There were no international events, but there were several important events of other
kinds;
0 – There were no international or national events of significance.
Conclusions
(1) Along with tourism to historical locations, Latvia is seeing a development of city tourism.
The most important destinations are Riga, Ventspils, and Liepaja.
(2) When leaders and organizations design their development directions and strategies for
Latvian cities, they must take into account the primary directions of marketing
strategies – studying the city’s products, creating an attractive environment for those who
use those products, placing the products on the market, creating and popularising a city
image that depicts its uniqueness, its values and its advantages vis-à-vis other cities.
(3) The most effective administrative structure for city marketing has been set up in
Ventspils and Liepaja. Riga and Jurmala have begun to establish similar structures.
(4) Ventspils is the only city among those that were studied, which has a long-term
marketing strategy.
(5) A logo and a slogan are among the most visible indicators of marketing activities. A logo
and slogan have helped Ventspils and Riga to make their city “brands” more highly
recognised.
(6) If a city’s image is concrete, that helps to define its movement and position in the market.
There are positive and concrete images about Riga, Ventspils, Liepaja and Jurmala.
Jelgava has to change its image because public thinking about the city does not involve
positive stereotypes. Daugavpils and Rezekne need a more concrete image.
(7) Although Riga and Jurmala have the greatest wealth of tourism resources, the fact is that
Ventspils and Liepaja have created new tourist attractions and organised a variety of
events, and that has led to the most rapid increase in the number of visitors to these cities
over the last couple of years.
(8) A ranking matrix, marketing activity criteria and scales for evaluation have been created.
These can be used in evaluating the marketing efforts of other cities. Local governments
can use the matrix to identify the strengths and weaknesses of their own marketing
strategies.
References
Gurtner, W.C. (2000). Destination image. Encyclopaedia of Tourism. London, New York:
Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group.
Hasana, D. (2003). Interview with the head of Department of development, division of public
relations of Riga city council.
LR CSP/CSBL (LR Centrālā Statistikas pārvalde/ Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia) (2000).
Tourism in Latvia in 1999. Statistical Bulletin. Riga: LR CSP.
LR CSP/CSBL (2003). Tourism in Latvia in 2002. Statistical Bulletin. Riga: LR CSP.
LR CSP/CSBL (2004). Tourism in Latvia in 2003. Statistical Bulletin. Riga: LR CSP.
LR Ekonomikas ministrijas Tūrisma departaments (2004). www.em.gov.lv [Department of
tourism, Ministry of Economics Republic of Latvia].
Mackevičs, A. (2002). Latvijas tūrisma objektu TOP 10 pēc TIC vērtējuma. Dienas Bizness –
Tūrisma pielikums (2002/2). – Rīga: Diena-Bonnier SIA. [TOP 10 of tourism attractions in
Latvia]. In Latvian.
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